Ticks have life cycles starting with eggs produced by adult females. These hatch and progress to larvae, nymphs, and adults. With Lyme disease, the bite of the nymph offers the greatest risks to humans and animals and that of the adult less so. The disease-causing pathogen of Lyme disease is found in the gut of the black-legged ticks where it remains inactive until warm blood enters the gut and enables it to grow and then move to the mouth of the tick. This process takes anywhere from 24 to 36 hours. Other tick-borne disease pathogens have even shorter growth periods. The soft-shelled tick, Ornithodoros hermsi that causes Relapsing Fever requires only one hour or less to be available for infection at the bite site. Hauser, Susan Carol, 2001, in “Outwitting Ticks”, The Lyons Press, Connecticut, presents an extensive survey of the role of ticks in human and animal diseases, their description, location, prevention and treatment. The conclusion of this author and all health authorities is that embedded ticks of all types should be removed as quickly as possible. In the case of Lyme disease the tick should be removed before 24 hours after the time of attachment. This process is not always so simple.
Various household methods currently attempt to remove ticks ranging from applying heat or various chemical compositions. However, these household remedies may not be safe due to the potential danger of burning skin when applying heat or because many of the chemicals can be unhealthy and adversely react with human skin causing irritations or rashes.
Others have attempted to create less dangerous methods for removing ticks. For example Bale, U.S. Pat. No. 6,808,717 discloses an aerosol coolant spray for killing and removing ticks comprising a coolant spray and essential oil. However, using aerosol canisters are undesirable due to the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere that may cause pollution and depletion of the Earth's ozone layer. Other alternatives include using specially formulated shampoos that are safer for human and animal use such as those disclosed in Holzer, U.S. Pat. No. 6,683,065 and Bowman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,434. However, these methods may not be as effective at removing ticks due to the dilution of the effective chemicals.